“Globale” is a painting by the Italian artist Mario Schifano hanging on the wall of Osteria Francescana since 2001. It is an amplification of our openness to wise contaminations, keeping curiosity alive along our journey.

The fluidity of the world map in the art work reflects how ideas, identities and cultures blend and merge, in art and in our kitchen. When we travel, we bring home new knowledge, friendships and perspectives — that both widen our horizons and help us understand where we came from and where we are going.

CAN YOU BE HERE AND THERE?
Baccalà Mare Nostrum.

Mare Nostrum, Our Sea, is a Latin expression used by the ancient Romans referring to the Mediterranean Sea. The term highlights the magnificence and attachment of the empire to this thriving crossroads which is also a symbol of the diverse cultures surrounding it for over two millennia.

Credits: “GLOBALE” by Mario Schifano, Illustration by Giuliano Della Casa

I am an Emilian chef, born and raised in Modena. The light and color of the Mediterranean are far from Modena’s cobblestoned streets. The Adriatic Sea is 60 miles off to the east, and the Tyrrhenian Sea is the same distance over the Apennines to the west. Modena’s treasures—the cured meats, Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, Lambrusco and balsamic vinegar—were once traded for baccalà (salt cod) along the canals of the Po River valley during the Middle Ages.

Returning from a trip to Naples with a trunk full of tomatoes, lemons and green olives, I began thinking about how far and wide baccalà has travelled over the centuries, circling the world in the hulls of whaling ships, in clandestine boats along the canals and in burlap sacks on horseback riding over the hills. Recipes with baccalà can be found in every corner of Italy, from the landlocked states to the seaside towns.

Credits: left picture Modena from “Never Trust A Skinny Italian Chef” – right picture: Naples

When I turned off the highway exit at Modena Sud, I became nostalgic for my mother, Luisa’s, battered and fried baccalà fritters, served every Friday, and seasoned with rosemary and garlic. That is when I imagined a fillet of baccalà floating in the Mediterranean. An infusion of Piennolo tomatoes, green olives, lemons, wild oregano and extra-virgin olive oil could become the Gulf of Naples. A salt cod fillet, cooked sous-vide with oregano and olive oil, could sit above a pesto of dried tomatoes, like an island floating in a warm and fragrant sea.

Yes, I was flying on the magic carpet of cooking. Because a recipe allows you to be in two places at once; my feet were deeply rooted in the kitchen of Osteria Francescana while I was swimming in the Mediterranean Sea.

Can you be in two places at once?

NEVER STOP QUESTIONING

Credits: Cinefood